A sweet deal to acquire a piano for the Centro Cultural de Ajijic (CCA) is the motor propelling three events on the calendar for successive Saturdays this month.
The piano was put up for sale by Saúl Ibarra Ramos, a 13-year-old lakeside area prodigy who, on the advice of his music coaches, is trading up for a concert quality instrument. When he offered the Wurlitzer baby grand to CCA for 25,000 pesos, less than half of its market value, the center’s director Efren Gonzalez seized on an opportunity that was too good to pass up.
Without receiving so much as a down payment, Ibarra delivered the piano to the CCA stage just in time for the May 29 appearance of the University of Guadalajara’s Ensamble Vocal. He is counting on a fund-raising campaign launched by Gonzalez to collect on the good faith transaction.
The first in a series of pro-piano benefits is an art auction to be held Saturday, June 14, 4 p.m., at the doorstep of the CCA on the north side of the Ajijic plaza. With the affable Gonzalez wielding the gavel, art lovers will have a chance to pick up great buys on a big selection of works by local artists in varied media, including oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings, pastels and sculptures.
Free refreshments will be offered to entice the audience of bidders. In case of rain, the sale will move indoors to the CCA auditorium.Next on the agenda is a piano recital showcasing the talents of the young Ibarra himself, booked for Saturday, June 21, 7 p.m. A minimum donation of 80 pesos per person will be requested at the door.
The brilliant young musician took up piano lessons at age seven as a student at Ajijic’s Centro Regional de Estudios Musicales (CREM). To broaden his horizons he has also studied violin since age nine under the guidance of CREM Director Emmanuel Medeles.
Since last year Ibarra has been perfecting his piano skills at the University of Colima’s prestigious Instituto Universitario de Bellas Artes (IUBA) where he is enrolled in a study program specially designed to develop talented child musicians.
While continuing regular academic studies at a local junior high, Ibarra spends one day a week at the IUBA taking instruction from renowned Russian émigrés Anatoly Zatin and Vlada Vassilieva.
Among the ranks of IUBA’s high-caliber music students is Daniela Liebman, the 11-year-old piano prodigy from Guadalajara who has gained star status on world stages, including a debut appearance at Carnegie Hall last October that earned rave reviews.
Rounding out the CCA piano fund-raisers will be a gala concert performance by the CREM Orchestra, scheduled for Saturday, June 28, 7 p.m. The cost of admission on this occasion is 100 pesos per person.